The present invention relates to the field of electrostatic actuators. Actuators of this type have already been studied and produced by the applicant, as well as proposed, for example, in European Patent Application EP-A-837551.
Typically, the above actuators comprise a substrate made, for example, of a plate of plastic material of a few millimetres in thickness, upon which a microlayer of electrically conductive material, designed to constitute a first electrode of the device, is applied, using any suitable technology, such as for instance spin-coating, dipping or the like. The above electrode is then coated with an insulating layer made of dielectric material, designed to insulate the first electrode from a second electrode in the form of a lamina or “petal”, which has one end secured to the dielectric layer of the substrate and the opposite end free to move between a rest condition, for example a curled condition, and an active condition, where it is distended over the dielectric layer of the substrate. The dielectric layer and the electrodes typically have a thickness of a few microns. The passage of the movable electrode from its rest condition to the distended condition is obtained by applying a voltage between the two electrodes, so as to cause adhesion, by electrostatic effect, of the second electrode over the surface of the substrate. When the applied voltage goes to zero, the second electrode returns due to its own elasticity to the curled rest condition.